Art Market Opportunities Past

Singapore remains an significant art hub and this recent story from the region has two very different but still interesting data points:

Larasati introduced the hot Indonesian artist Nyoman Masriadi to the market in 2003 with his works selling for just around US$1,000. By 2006, his prices had gone up to US$8,000. When the art buying frenzy peaked in 2007, his works were going for “hundreds of thousands of dollars”. Masriadi’s works are now 30 per cent off their 2007 peak prices.

Frederic De Senarclens, partner and CEO of art dealers and consultancy Bartha & Senarclens Partners (Geneva and Singapore), retells how a client managed to buy a Picasso and a Miro at half its value from a French collector who panicked after half his collection went unsold at an auction in November 2008. Just six months later — with the Modern Masters market “back on its feet”, the client doubled his investment. But De Senarclens also says: “These cases are relatively rare and typically tend to be limited to those who are prepared to make large investments when the market is down and investor confidence is shaky.”